Improved composition clock-dial



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STEPHEN BARNES, 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 82,788, dotted October 6, 1868.

' IMPROVED COMPOSITION GLOGK-DIAL.

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TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, S TEPHENBARNES, of New Haven, county of New Haven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Composition Clock-Faces; and hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The object Ihave in View. is to form a dial or clock-face of a plastic composition, pressed in adie of the configuration required, and to form upon the dial raised letters or numerals, of a color different from that of the body of the face.

' The adw antag es of thusforming the clockare numerous; for it may be manufactured much cheaper than ordinary clock-faces; it can be made extremely ornamental the raised letters upon it form part of the face,.

and are not liable, therefore, to be detached therefrom; and finally, it is very durable.

' The composition I prefer to use is composed of equal partsjof rosin and gum-shellac, to which maybe added a small quantity of saw-dust or ivory-dust, or like material, for the purpose of giving the composition greater coherency. To the composition is also added coloring-matter, to impart any desired color. While preferring this. composition, any other suitable plastic material or compound may be employed for the purpose.

In order to form the clock-face, the plastic composition is pressed in a die of ordinary or suitable construction, and shaped so as to produce a dial of the configuration desired, The raised letters, and any ornamental designs which are to be reproduced upon the face of the-dial, are countersunk or out in the die, and after the material is pressed therein the whole is subjected to sufficient heat to fuse the composition into-a homogeneous mass. Upon cooling, the composition hardens,'and the dial, perfectly formed, can then be removed from the die.

In order to produce raised letters of a color difl'ering from that of the ground-work or body of the dial, the depressions in the die representing the letters and ornamental designs are filled first with a composition colored black, or any other shade desired; the body of the die is then filled with the white or other composition forming the main part of the dial, and the mass is then subjected to heat, and formed as above stated.

In case it be desired to impart additional strength to the dial, a perforated plate or wire gauze may be pressed in the back of the dial, while the latter is in the die and still plastic. The composition will be forced up through the perforations, and the plate will thus be firmly embedded and held, when the composition is heated and hardened, in the body of the dial. In order-to form the apertures in the dial for the passage of the central shaft, and for the key-hole, posts or pins are suitably located and arranged in the die, around which the stock or composition is pressed, and when the finished dial is removed, the space occupied by the posts (which remain in the die) will constitutc th e apertures above mentioned.

To suitably protect that part of the face around the key-hole, a metallic'bushing may be pressed in the plastic composition, at the point where the key-hole is to be formed.

Having now described my invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A compositionclock-face or dial, formed from a plastic composition, substantially in the manner described.

2. A composition clock-dial, in which the raised letters or ornamcntations, while made in one piece with the body of the dial, are formed of a composition difi'ering-in color from that of which the body is composed.

3. The application, to a composition clock-dial, of a perforated plate, or its equivalent, pressed into the dial while the latter is in a plastic state,-substantially as set forth. 4

In testimony whereof, Ihave signed my name to this specification before two subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN BARNES.

Witnesses A. Pontox, SAML HOLMES. 

